Susanne Daniels Exiting As MTV Programming Boss

Susanne Daniels, the veteran executive who took over head of programming at MTV in 2012, is exiting her post, Deadline has learned. She is headed to YouTube. MTV has promoted Mina Lefevre to the role of EVP and Head of Scripted Development, overseeing all scripted development and programming for the network, and she will co-head programming alongside Lauren Dolgen, Head of Reality Programming and EVP Series Development. Daniels’ position will not be filled.

Lefevre, who was behind Pretty Little Liars at ABC Family, was credited with launching MTV’s scripted successes including Scream, Finding Carter and Faking It and is developing the upcoming fantasy series The Shannara Chronicles. She will report directly to MTV president Stephen Friedman along with Dolgen.

“From Shannara to Finding Carter, Mina has an incredible talent for developing entirely new worlds, stories, and characters that always feel relatable and real to our fans,” said Friedman. “As MTV continues to pursue even more ambitious scripted projects, we’re thrilled to have the leadership of a creative, collaborative executive like Mina.”

Here is the internal memo sent by Friedman about Daniels’ departure:

I have some additional news to share about a good friend and one of our senior leaders here at MTV. Susanne Daniels, our President of Programming, is leaving the company to pursue a new opportunity.

In just under three years here, Susanne has helped guide our Development team to some tremendous wins, from the launch of hits including “Finding Carter,” “Faking It,” “Are You The One?,” “Broke A$$ Game Show,” and,most recently, “Scream;” to the strengthening of existing franchises like “Real World,” “Challenges,” “Ridiculousness,” and “Fantasy Factory.” She’s been a strong creative talent for the brand, a thoughtful leader for the organization, and a great partner for me. I will personally miss her terrific sense of humor, her warmth and candor, and those wonderful occasions when she accidentally hangs up on a 40-person VC (sorry, Susanne – I had to J). We wish her all the best.

Our Development team has a tremendously strong bench, and Mina Lefevre and Lauren Dolgen will step up and report to me as they continue their excellent work.

I’m pleased to announce that we’re promoting Mina Lefevre to Executive Vice President and Head of Scripted Programming, a role in which she’ll continue to lead our scripted efforts. Mina launched “Finding Carter” and “Faking It” and has strengthened existing hits like “Teen Wolf” and “Awkward.” She was critical to the launch of “Scream,” and she’ll be focused on the debut of “The Shannara Chronicles” next year.

Lauren Dolgen will of course continue as Head of Reality Programming and Executive Vice President of Series Development. Lauren has been behind some of MTV’s most defining reality hits, from “Teen Mom” to “Ridiculousness”and “Jackass.” With “Todrick” and “Follow the Rules” on the way, she will continue to use her sharp creative instincts to pursue breakthrough concepts that tap into the zeitgeist and our audience.

We’ve got a full and strong pipeline of content as we move forward, as well, including 90 projects in development across all platforms. In addition to “Shannara” and “Girl Code Live,” and we’ll also see the launch of “Todrick,” “Follow the Rules,” “Greatest Party Story Ever,” and “Middle of the Night Show” before the end of the calendar year. In the fall, we’ll also bring “Awkward,” “Faking It,” “Finding Carter,” and “Are You The One?” back for new seasons.

Our amazing team has a lot of great work underway. Many thanks to all of you for your hard work and creativity, and to Susanne for her contributions to MTV.